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Conflict East Asia

Wars of the Sixteen Kingdoms

304 CE – 439 CE · 135 years

After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, northern China fractured into a chaotic succession of short-lived kingdoms founded by both Chinese and nomadic rulers. Over a century of devastating warfare depopulated the north and drove mass migration southward.

Belligerents

The main peoples, kingdoms and states involved.

  • Various Chinese and nomadic states (Former Zhao, Later Zhao, Former Qin, etc.)

Key moments

Defining events in the Wars of the Sixteen Kingdoms.

  1. 383 AD Battle of Fei River
  2. 311 AD Sack of Luoyang
  3. 316 AD Sack of Chang'an

Elsewhere in East Asia at the time

Records whose own span overlaps this one, found by the same test the canvas draws with. The bar under each card is where it sits inside this one.

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Image credits6 pictures from Wikimedia Commons